Bass Pro Shops Class Action Says ‘Ladies’ Day Out’ Is Discriminatory

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Bass Pro Shops by two customers who claim that they were treated as “sub-humans” when the company created a “Ladies’ Day Out” promotion which prohibited men from entering into a raffle that awarded prizes only to women customers.

Plaintiff Steve Frye says he patronized Bass Pro Shops in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. on April 28, 2018 during a “Ladies’ Day Out” event and asked if he could enter into the raffle that was going to be drawn. 

He was reportedly told by an employee that that raffle was only available to women, yet there were more than 100 males in the store at the time.

In addition, the plaintiff claims that he attended seminars/demonstrations during the day and was told afterwards that he was ineligible to enter the raffle.

The other plaintiff in this case, Allan Candelore, claims to have experienced a similar situation when he asked to enter a raffle at the end of numerous demonstrations.  

“Defendants boldly created, advertised, promoted, hosted, and employed a Ladies’ Day Out marketing promotion that discriminated against Plaintiffs and other male consumers by prohibiting males from entering Bass Pro Shops’ Ladies’ Day Out raffles that awarded valuable prizes to only female patrons, thereby treating male and female patrons unequally based on their sex,” the Bass Pro Shops class action lawsuit states.

The Bass Pro Shops class action lawsuit likens the “Ladies’ Day Out” as equivalent to a “Caucasians’ Day Out” or a “Heterosexuals’ Day Out.”

“Defendants’ sex-based Ladies’ Day Out raffles were akin to and as abhorrent as would be if a local automobile dealership advertised and hosted a marketing promotion that culminated with a raffle for a new car, a raffle that prohibited patrons who were female, People of Color, or members of the LGBTQ community from entering,” the Bass Pro Shops class action lawsuit states.

The Bass Pro Shops class action lawsuit further claims that the “Ladies’ Day Out” promotion renounces hundreds of years of women’s fighting to be equal to men and points to a California Supreme Court ruling that unanimously disapproved of Ladies’ Day and Ladies’ Night promotions. 

The court noted that “Public policy in California strongly supports eradication of discrimination based on sex. The Unruh Act expressly prohibits sex discrimination by business enterprises.”  

In addition, the Bass Pro Shops class action lawsuit points to a United States Supreme Court ruling which stated that the United States military would have to provide its female members with the same housing benefits that they provide to their male members.

Justice William J. Brennan Jr. reportedly wrote that the “military’s unequal treatment of men and women is yet another example of one of those types of traditional sex discrimination that ostensibly appears to benefit women, but is ‘rationalized by an attitude of ‘romantic paternalism’ which, in practical effect, put women, not on a pedestal, but in a cage.'”

Potential Class Members include: “All Bass Pro Shop male patrons who were treated unequally based on their sex during Defendants’ Ladies’ Day Out events on April 28, 2018 and on March 30, 2019 at Defendants’ Bass Pro Shops stores in Rancho Cucamonga, San Jose, Rocklin, and Manteca, California (the ‘Class’).”

The customers claim that Bass Pro Shops have violated sections 51, 51.5, and 52 of the California Civil Code which prohibits businesses and individuals from treating customers unequally based on sexual orientation.

Do you think it’s unfair for businesses to have “Ladies’ Day Out” events? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

The plaintiffs are represented by Alfred G. Rava of the Rava Law Firm.

The Bass Pro Shops Ladies’ Day Out Class Action Lawsuit is Canderlore, et al. v. BPS Direct LLC, et al., Case No. CIVDS1913576, in the Superior Court for the State of California, County of San Bernardino.

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